Twins of Fate

Chapter 8

Lucina looked around at her current surroundings. She was in an unfamiliar area, lush with greenery and near a river. And worse, she was completely alone. She was very afraid.

"Red? Zelda? Lin-"

She stopped as she remembered the cruel words she'd said to Linkle and how Red slapped her. She touched her cheek where Red had hit her. She bit her lower lip. She'd been so cruel to her best friend, and now she was all alone in a strange place.

"What I am going to do?" she whispered. For once, Lucina had no idea what to do.

The blue Loftwing was worried about its partner; she looked so lost. An idea suddenly hit, and the bird took off, leaving Lucina behind. Lucina called out for the bird, but it had already flown away. That only made Lucina more worried.

"Calm down, Lucina! Calm down! Your father and Impa taught you everything you need to know in case you get lost in the forest."

The first thing she did was look for a place to take shelter. She found a cave near the river. She had her bow and arrow on hand in case any monsters lived in the cave. She heaved a sigh of relief when she saw there were no monsters. The second thing she did was gather some wood. Lucina might blame Impa for her recent misfortune, but she was grateful to her for teaching her how to make fire using two rocks. She sat closer to the fire as she started to think over the events that had taken place on Skyloft. She felt angry at herself for saying all those terrible things to Linkle. Red had every right to hit her.

"I guess our friendship is over..." she muttered sorrowfully.

XXX

After a long night, the sun finally rose. Lucina groaned as the light reached her face. Then, she heard an odd noise in her cave. She noticed there was a small glowing spot on the floor. Curious, Lucina dug where the glow was and found a strange blue mask. The face looked a bit draconian.

"Okay, that's an ugly mask..." muttered Lucina.

But something told her to keep the mask. Her father always told her to trust her instincts, so she decided to keep the mask. She placed the mask in her bag. After that, she went out to look for more firewood. She smirked when she found bamboo; she could use it to make herself a fishing rod. She was very grateful that Professor Luigi had taught her class how to make a fishing rod using a paper clip, bamboo, and some vine. Using a small piece of bread as bait, she hoped she could catch a fish for breakfast. She smirked when she caught her first one.

While she was eating her first roasted fish, Lucina tried to catch a second fish. That was when she felt a strong tug.

"Oh, this is a big one!"

With a strong tug, Lucina managed to reel in her second fish, or so she thought. Her jaw dropped when she saw she'd actually caught a humanoid fish.

"I don't think this is edible..." Lucina muttered, sweatdropping.

"I'm not..." the fish muttered back.

Lucina couldn't help but yelp in surprise.

After Lucina recovered from the scare, the fishman introduced himself as Mikau the Zora. Mikau explained to Lucina what Zoras were and why they're not edible while they were eating real fish (Mikau was nice enough to catch fish for both of them). Lucina noticed he had a lot of bruises and scratches. The blue-haired girl asked what had happened to him. Mikau sighed.

"A couple of days ago, a monster showed up at Lake Hylia, after a lightning storm." Lucina's eyes widened in shock. It was just like what happened at Skyloft. Mikau quivered in fear, then continued, "A monster like nothing I'd ever seen before started to eat the other Zoras alive. I saw my brothers and sisters being eaten alive! I tried to get away with my friend, Lulu, but the river's current was too strong, and we were separated."

Lucina was horrified. A monster was eating the Zoras alive? That was disgusting! Lucina asked what the monster looked like. She feared one of her classmates or even her cousin, Owain, had become this horrible monster. Mikau couldn't describe the monster, but he drew what it looked like in the dirt. Lucina's eyes widened in shock when she recognized the creature.

"An Akhlut?!" she hissed. "You've gotta be kidding me!"

"A what? You know this creature, Lady Lucina?" Mikau asked.

Lucina explained that Akhlut is an orca spirit that takes the form of a gigantic wolf-orca hybrid when on land in Inuit mythology. It was a vicious, dangerous beast that ventured onto land in order to hunt humans and other animals. She also explained that she only knew about the existence of this mythical creature because Linkle wanted to do a horror story involving a unique creature.

"But, if you say the existence of this creature is just a myth, how can it be at Lake Hylia?" Mikau asked.

Lucina bit her lip, having no choice but to reveal the truth to the Zora. She explained everything from the beginning, from the prom to the events at Skyloft. She even told him about Link being possessed by Demise and turning everyone from her class into monsters. Fox was the first victim, turning into a monster fox from the mythology from her world. Mikau was very surprised to learn Lucina was from another world, and even more surprised she was the Hero of Legend's friend.

"Are you saying this monster is one of your classmates or your own cousin transformed by the Dark Lord?" She nodded, answering him.

Mikau was now concerned. If what Lucina said was true, then the problems they faced were even bigger than he'd initially thought. That's when he asked her to come with him to Lake Hylia to help the members of his tribe who were still alive but hadn't escaped. Lucina looked at him in disbelief.

"Are you insane?!" she shouted. "I'm not some legendary hero like Linkle, and I don't had any hitman training like Red. And I definitely don't have a piece of the Triforce or a weapon like the Master Sword! I only have the self-defense training that my father taught me and archery! I'd be completely useless against this thing!" she cried.

There; she'd finally admitted it to herself. Lucina had always felt like she was useless and talentless, especially in comparison to her friends. She wanted to go out and do things like Red and Linkle did when they were kids, but her father never allowed her to do anything that he considered dangerous. Even in Hyrule, Linkle and Red had found their true purposes in life, but Lucina had not.

"But you know the creature, and if what you say is true, it's possible this creature is really your cousin. He might recognize you."

Lucina hated to admit it, but Mikau was right. It was a possibility that the creature was actually Owain. But she was scared. And even scarier was the thought that she wouldn't be able to save her cousin and he'd share the same fate as Fox.

"I can help you, Lady Lucina," Mikau said. Lucina looked at him, puzzled. "I know you're scared. So am I. But together, we might find a way to save my people and save your cousin's soul."

"Save his soul...?"

Mikau explained that it was impossible to make someone who became a monster return to normal. The best they could do was destroy the body and save their soul. In Hyrule, the soul was more important than any physical body. That made Lucina remember the story of her father saving his best friend, Frederick, from his drug addiction. She'd learned very quickly how drugs can destroy a person's body and mind. In a way, her father saved his soul, so Frederick could fight back and take the first step down a long road toward treating his drug problem. Today, Frederick is one of the best detectives in her father's department.

With that in mind, Lucina finally came to a decision.

"Take me to Lake Hylia."

XXX

A female Zora was quivering in fear as she hid inside of an underwater cave. She was placing her hands over her mouth in the hopes of not making any sound that would allow the creature to find her. But it was useless; the creature had found her under the water. She screamed as the creature growled and opened its jaws. Her screams were silenced by the sickening sounds of a loud crunch.

XXX

After a day of travel, Lucina and Mikau finally arrived at Zora's Domain.

"So, this is Zora's Domain?"

It was a large, cavernous area with a lake being fed into by several waterfalls. For some odd reason, the scenery kind of reminded Lucina of a Nintendo game that she used to play when she, Linkle, Link, and Red were kids.

"So silent..." Mikau commented. "I don't like this..."

That's when the strong scent of blood reached the Zora. He and Lucina gasped, horrified, when they saw another male Zora limping toward them... or what was left of him, at least; his left arm was gone, the fin on his head was chopped off, and he had a large cut across his abdomen. Mikau recognized him right away.

"Japas!" he cried out, rushing toward him.

"Mi...kau..." he muttered in pain as he started to collapse.

Mikau rushed to his friend's side and caught him just in time, before he could hit the ground. There was blood- a lot of blood- pooling on the ground around them. Lucina was horrified by the scene unfolding before her.

"Japas! You have to hold on!" Mikau cried. "Where is everyone? Did they manage to escape from that monster?!"

Japas coughed up blood. He knew he wouldn't survive much longer, but he needed to tell Mikau everything. He explained that the monster had crashed into a rock wall, setting off a rockslide that blocked the underwater passage connecting Lake Hylia and Zora's Domain, stopping everyone from escaping. He hadn't seen anyone else since he managed to escape from the monster's jaws.

"Please... save everyone... before they're eaten by that monster..." With that, Japas died, and his body slowly faded away in Mikau's arms.

Mikau was very concerned. If the path to Lake Hylia was blocked, how could they save everyone? Lucina was worried about the same thing. Then, she snapped her fingers and started digging through her pouch, suddenly remembering that Red had given her some bombs. Mikau was happy; with the bombs, they could open the passage, and everyone could escape to safety since the monster was too huge to fit through the portal itself. He asked what else she had. Lucina showed him everything she had: the Water Gem, the Ice Gem, a bow with a few arrows, and the mask. Mikau picked up the mask and looked at it with a puzzled expression.

"This mask... where did you find it?"

Before Lucina could answer, they heard a loud roar. It was the Akhlut. Mikau hissed, saying they had no time. Mikau explained to Lucina what the Water Gem was for while they quickly headed toward the passage to Lake Hylia. He explained that, with the gem, Lucina could not only control water, but also breathe underwater. It would definitely come in handy since the portal was underwater.

Lucina was surprised when she learned that she really could breathe underwater thanks to the Water Gem. They set up the bombs at the entrance, and after a few seconds...

Boom!

... the entrance was open. The sound of the explosion gained the attention of everyone who was still trapped on their side, and suddenly, a swarm of Zoras was swimming rapidly through the portal to safety. A young Zora saw Mikau and Lucina and thanked them before swimming off. Lucina swam through the portal, while Mikau stayed behind to help everyone escape.

On the other side, Lucina found herself at the lake. She went to the surface, and that was where she found the Akhlut had managed to follow her, the earlier bomb blast opening the portal wide enough for it to swim through. Lucina gulped in fear, but she needed to know if that monster was her cousin.

"Owain!" she cried, getting the monster's attention. "Is that you? It is, isn't it? Can you understand me?"

The creature stared at her with a surprised look on its face before tears began rolling down its cheeks.

"Lu...ci...na..." it muttered haltingly.

Lucina's eyes widened in astonishment when she realized that the monster really was her cousin. The monster roared in pain as he was covered by a dark aura. Then, his eyes glowed pure red and he roared at her, sending out a visible shockwave. Lucina hissed as she dove to escape the attack. She looked back at the portal to Zora's Domain, but Owain's sonic attack had caused bolders to fall and block the way again. Lucina thought through her options and ultimately decided that she'd have to use the Ice Gem to freeze Owain and keep him from causing anymore damage; after doing so, she reached for her pouch to put the gem away when she saw a glow emanating from somewhere deep inside it. Lucina reached inside after it and ended up taking out the mask she had found in that cave.

"Use me..." a voice said to her.

Lucina was astonished; had the mask just talked to her? Then, she saw the ice was starting to crack; Lucina swam behind a rock as Owain freed himself. He started looking for Lucina, who was now his target.

"Shit, what I am going to do?" Lucina thought, panicking. The blue mask in her hands glowed.

Then, she heard a cry of terror. She gasped in horror when she saw two Zora children crying and hugging each other as Owain growled at them.

"SHIT!" she cried. That's when she heard the voice again.

"Use me, quickly!"

Without thinking, she swam as fast as she could as she placed the mask on her face. Just as Owain was about to crush the Zora children in his jaws, he was taken by surprise by an intense sapphire light. Owain cried out in pain as a huge snake tail hit him. The impact was so strong that it threw Owain out of the water. He yelped in pain as he landed on the shore.

Then, a huge figure emerged from the lake. It was a blue-scaled dragon, and she held the Zora children in her talons. On the cliffs overlooking Lake Hylia, the Zoras who had escaped with the help of Mikau saw the whole thing. They couldn't believe what they were seeing. They started to converse with each other in hushed tones.

"I can't believe it," muttered a very old Zora. "It's her: Faron, the legendary Water Dragon and guardian of our people..."

"Faron, the legendary Water Dragon...?" Mikau repeated, amazed.

The dragon looked at the top of the cliff and saw Mikau and the other Zoras. Using her new water powers, the dragon made a pillar of water and used it to lift the children to the top of the cliff. The adults took the children to safety.

"Take care of the children," the dragon said to them as she turned her attention back to the Akhlut.

Mikau gasped. His eyes widened in astonishment when he recognized the dragon's voice.

"No way... Lady Lucina?"

The Akhlut growled as he leaped to attack Dragon-Lucina. Lucina waved her talons and formed a giant water arm that slapped Owain away effortlessly. Dragon-Lucina looked at her talons, amazed.

"Unbelievable... Did I do that?" she thought.

"Be careful, child. The fight is not over yet," the voice of the mask said to her.

That's when Dragon-Lucina noticed Owain was no longer anywhere in sight. She looked around to try to find him. Then, she cried out in pain when she felt something bite into her tail, dragging her back underwater.

"Lady Lucina!" Mikau cried.

Dragon-Lucina growled and struck Owain's nose, causing him to yelp in pain and open his jaws. She took the oportunity to wrap her serpentine body around the Akhlut while her arms wrapped around his neck, making sure to restrain most his movement.

"Owain! Wake up!" she shouted angrily. "You have to wake up! I know you're in there!"

The Akhlut growled as he tried to free himself from the dragon's hold. During the struggle, he accidentally struck his forehead against hers. Lucina saw stars for a moment, then blinked as she suddenly found herself floating in a black void.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"We're in the mind of the creature," a serene voice answered.

Lucina yelped and spun around. She saw the same dragon she had transformed into. She felt peaceful in the presence of the dragon. She could see the dragon had a lot of wisdom on her face.

"You... you're the mask's voice," she said, amazed.

The dragon smiled.

"My name is Faron. I am the Water Dragon and the Goddesses' most faithful servant. I have been waiting for you for a long time, Lucina."

Now, Lucina was puzzled. What did she mean? The dragon explained that, a long time ago, an oracle had told her that several centuries from now, her people would be in danger and a girl from another world would be the one to help them, using her power.

"Before I passed away, I sealed a piece of my soul into that mask so that you could use my power. At first, I wasn't sure if you would be worthy of my power, but after seeing you risk your life to save my people and trying to save your cousin, I could see that you were indeed worthy to use my power," she smiled.

Lucina blushed, embarrassed. She muttered that she wasn't worthy to use the dragon's power at all because she'd said such cruel words to Linkle and she was afraid their friendship was over. The dragon gave a serene smile.

"So, all you have to do is apologize to her. I saw some of your memories. You two are like sisters. I know she feels the same, if she is anything like the Sky Hero of the past. " That made Lucina smile. Once everything was over, she would apologize to Linkle for everything she said. "Now back to the business at hand; we have company inside of the creature's mind," the dragon frowned.

Lucina felt a presence behind her. She spun around, and her eyes widened in pure horror when she saw Owain. Owain was unconscious but bound by dark energy chains.

"Owain!" she was about to rush to her cousin when Faron stopped her. She shook her head.

Then, Owain groaned and opened his eyes. He saw his cousin and Faron.

"Lucina... please, kill me..."

"Owain!" she cried, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Don't say such things!"

"I... I killed those innocent creatures... I ate them alive," he said, weakly. "And my monster-self enjoyed tearing into their flesh... Please, Lucina! Set my soul free from this torture! I don't want to hurt anyone else! Kill me! Kill me, please!" he yelled as he reached out and pushed Lucina and Faron back.

Lucina blinked as she returned to the real world. She could see the Akhlut was still trying set himself free. She was still crying.

"Owain..."

Dragon-Lucina pushed the Akhlut as she prepared to perform Faron's attack. The Akhlut growled as he swam back toward her.

"...Please... forgive me..." Dragon-Lucina said as she performed her and Faron's attack.

"FARON SOARING DRAGON!"

On the cliffs above Lake Hylia, the Zoras gasped as a giant beacon of light shot out of the water. They saw the monster that had been eating their people lift toward the sky as his body disintegrated. Dragon-Lucina came out of the water as she watched the Akhlut's body disintegrate. Then, she saw Owain's soul smiling to her.

"Thank you..." he said before he vanished into the light.

Then, Dragon-Lucina glowed as she returned to her nomal size. She took off Faron's mask as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"LADY LUCINA!" Mikau called.

She saw Mikau jump from the cliff and dive into the water, doing so with enough grace to make any professional diver jealous. He swam until he reached her and looked at her in concern.

"Are you all right, Lady Lucina?" he asked, very worried. "Are you hurt?"

Lucina sniffled, her tears continuing to fall as she hugged her Zora friend. She cried and sobbed on his shoulder. He patted her back, trying to comfort her. He didn't say anything; he just let his friend cry out all her pain.

XXX

It was almost evening when everything finally calmed down after the battle of titans at Lake Hylia. It was an empty victory. The Zoras held a funeral for everyone who'd been killed by the Akhlut. Everyone had one flower in their hands. Lucina had a flower, too.

"Today, my friends, we lost a lot of our brothers and sisters to the Dark Lord's monster. We honor their souls with those flowers. May they rest in peace in the Realm of the Goddesses..." said the elder.

One by one, the Zoras placed the flowers in the river. They could see the water carrying the flowers away. Lucina saw Mikau's bandmates place their flowers on the water in honor of Japas. Lucina placed her flower on the water, too.

"Owain... rest in peace. I promise I will stop Link from causing more harm," she whispered as she let the flower go.

As a sign of gratitude, the Zoras gave Lucina the Master Ore, the material that Linkle needed to evolve her sword. Lucina thanked the Zoras. She tried to give Faron's mask to them, but the elder told her she needed the mask more than they did if she wanted to defeat the Dark King. Lucina could return the mask after she defeated Demise.

"Lady Lucina, you told me you're a musician, right? When everything is over, come back to us. I would love to hear you play an instrument in our band," Mikau said, smiling to her.

Mikau's bandmates agreed as Lulu, the lead singer, commented that she wanted to hear Lucina sing, as well. Lucina blushed, saying she didn't really sing in public, but she would love to give them a private concert. With that, she left.

At the entrance of Zora's Domain, she received an unexpected surprise. At the waterfall leading into the domain, she saw Linkle and the blue and red Loftwings. Linkle seemed different somehow; not only because she had a mechanical arm and a large scar across her chest, but also because her face showed more maturity.

"Linkle...? Linkle!" She rushed to her friend and hugged her.

Linkle hugged back.

'There.. there...Are you okay, Lucina?" she asked.

"Why are you asking me that?!" she cried as she looked at Linkle. "Look at you! What happend to your arm? And why are you dressed like an odalisque?!"

Linkle couldn't help but chuckle. "It's a long story."

She told her everything that happened to her in the Gerudo Desert: how she was forced to kill Pit in order to save his soul, how Ganondorf saved her and gave her the Triforce of Power, and how the blue Loftwing showed up and lead her to where the blue-haired girl was. Lucina hugged the bird, thanking it for bringing Linkle to her, and apologized for thinking it had abandoned her.

Now, it was Lucina's turn to say what had happened to her since they'd gotten separated; she told her about how she met Mikau, how she found Faron's mask, and how she was forced to kill Owain in order to save his soul. Linkle gave her friend a sad, sympathetic smile. She knew exactly what Lucina had to go through. Both of the girls were happy that their friendship hadn't been ruined by Link.

"By the way, Linkle, here's the Master Ore. The Zoras gave it to me for saving them," she said, smiling.

Linkle unsheathed her sword and touched the crimson blade to the material. The sword absorbed the material, and the blade changed color again; this time, it had turned blue. Now, there was only one Master Ore left before the sword would be completely evolved.

"Now, all we have to do is to find the last piece of Master Ore and figure out Red and Zelda's whereabouts," Linkle said as she sheathed the Master Sword.

"Do you have any idea how to find them?" Lucina asked.

Linkle nodded. Since Lucina's Loftwing was the one who'd brought her there, the blond hoped the orange and purple Loftwings could do the same with Red and Zelda.

XXX

Elsewhere, a small Goron, a small Lynel, and a witch were coughing from the smoke made by the witch's magic.

"Did it work-goro?" the Goron kid asked.

When the smoke cleared, the trio's eyes widened in shock. The Goron and Lynel looked at the witch in horror.

"Was that supposed to happen?!" shouted the Lynel.

The witch gave her wand a furious glare.

"Stupid wand!" she shouted. "I said sharing thoughts, not sharing a body!"

Instead of Zelda and Red, they could only see an adult male Sheikah with blond hair wearing a ninja outfit. He looked at himself in horror.

"You made us fuse?!" shouted the blond Sheikah, horrified and angry.

End of the Chapter.

Next chapter: A Goron, a Lynel, a witch, and an accidental fusion.